Glass sheets are conventionally formed by heating on a conveyor within a furnace and then forming within a heated chamber prior to delivery for cooling. Such cooling can be slow cooling to provide annealing, faster cooling that provides heat strengthening, or rapid cooling that provides tempering. In connection with heating of the glass sheets, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,806,312 McMaster et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,947,242 McMaster et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,994,711 McMaster; U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,011 McMaster; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,460 McMaster. In connection with glass sheet forming, see U.S. Pat. No. 4,204,854 McMaster et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,222,763 McMaster; U.S. Pat. No. 4,282,026 McMaster et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,437,871 McMaster et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,390 McMaster; U.S. Pat. No. 4,661,141 Nitschke et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,925 Thimons et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,004,491 McMaster et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,330,550 Kuster et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,376,158 Shetterly et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,472,470 Kormanyos et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,900,034 Mumford et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,906,668 Mumford et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,925,162 Nitschke et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,032,491 Nitschke et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,173,587 Mumford et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,008 Shetterly; U.S. Pat. No. 6,418,754 Nitschke et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,543,255 Bennett et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,578,383 Bennett et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,718,798 Nitschke et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,729,160 Nitschke et al. In connection with the cooling, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,936,291 McMaster; U.S. Pat. No. 4,470,838 McMaster et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,525,193 McMaster et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,946,491 Barr; U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,786 Shetterly et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,917,107 Ducat et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,094 Ducat et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,513,348 Bennett et al.
Rollers utilized to convey glass sheets may include sinter bonded fused silica which is capable of operating without thermal warpage upon heating to the relatively high temperatures that can be involved, normally in excess of 600° C. However, this high temperature results in bearing problems and can also cause problems for mounting of metal end caps utilized to support the rollers for rotation.